Frank Buckles, the last surviving U.S. Veteran of World War I has died at the age of 110.
Interestingly, Buckles wasn't actually old enough to serve when he first enlisted.
Determined to serve and protect his country, Frank first went to the state fair in Wichita, Kansas and made a beeline for the Marine Corps recruiting station. He told the Marine sergeant there that he was 18, but the recruiter told him he had to be 21.
The following week, he went back to the recruiting sergeant and told him he was 21. Unfortunately, he was then told that he wasn't heavy enough. Although he had passed the inspection.
Unwilling to give up, Buckles tried the Navy. But the recruiter there told him he was flat-footed.
Next stop – an Army recruiter in Oklahoma City. That recruiter demanded to see a birth certificate. So Buckles told him that in his birth state of Missouri, birth certificates were not issued. Although he did have a record in his family Bible. Not expecting the young Buckles to chase down his family Bible, the recruiter took him. Frank enlisted on August 14, 1917.
It really is amazing how dedicated Frank Buckles was to serving his country. But back then, I imagine that's pretty much how most folks were.
They were grateful for the opportunity to live in a country where hard work and dedication could enable the kind of success and happiness that in other parts of the world, was simply impossible. And they were willing to sacrifice everything to ensure that future generations could also enjoy the same good fortune afforded to them by this great Democracy.
Sadly, as a nation, I don't think we have that kind of passion and appreciation for our country anymore.
Sure, we wave our flags on the fourth of July, and we cheer on U.S. Olympians every couple of years.
But I don't think we're in that place where we're willing to make the bold sacrifices to keep this nation strong. The kind of bold sacrifices that past generations never hesitated to make.
An Inconvenient Reality
As a nation, we are faced with so many problems today.
Unsustainable fiscal policies and budgets, a never-ending war in the Middle East and an energy economy that is so outdated, it leaves us vulnerable to the very real threats of peak energy and infrastructure failures.
These are the major problems that plague the United States today. These are the problems that if ignored long enough, will sink this great Democracy. And this isn't hyperbole, my friends. This is reality.
So where are the Frank Buckles of today?
Where are the folks that want to protect our nation, our democracy, our very fortunate way of life?
Every single day, special interests dictate policy in Washington. They write legislation, fill campaign coffers and make decisions based not on what's in the best interest of our nation, but what's in the best interest of their bottom line.
Don't get me wrong. I fault no one for making a buck. But if you do it unethically and irresponsibly, you are no better than a common traitor. A treasonous vulture who believes it is acceptable to trade the American Dream for a couple of bucks.
We need a modern day Frank Buckles
We need someone determined to overcome any obstacle to stand up for the values of this country.
We need someone to fight the special interests that manipulate markets, poison our water, air and food, and spread misinformation campaigns to confuse the public while 21st century robber barons empty our wallets and pick our pockets.
We need a modern day Frank Buckles to stand up to the career politicians and unethical Supreme Court Justices that refuse to end special interest influence.
We need a modern day Frank Buckles to stand up to the preoccupied bureaucrats in Washington that continue to look the other way while Monsanto bullies family farmers, poisons our food supplies and risks the health and sustainability of our food. We are NOT guinea pigs for Monsanto's sick and twisted agenda.
We need a modern day Frank Buckles to stand up to the policy makers and media whores that slow the adoption of cleaner transportation fuels and power generation.
Peak oil is real. Peak coal is real. The damage to our natural capital as a result of our continued reliance on fossil fuels is real.
We have real solutions in alternative energy and transportation fuels. Solar, wind, geothermal, energy efficiency and conservation, electric vehicles, next generation biofuels, expanded mass transit and high speed rail.
All of these represent real solutions to many of our environmental problems, many of our national security problems, and many of our economic problems. Yet day after day, the media and the lobbyists and the PR snakes manipulate the truth in an effort to keep us shackled to the fossil fuel machine that, if left unchecked, will most certainly sink this nation.
We need a modern day Frank Buckles to hold accountable both Democrats and Republicans who spend more time focusing on the “next election” than they do on actual policy.
We need a modern day Frank Buckles to expose the real terrorists of untruth who facilitate their agendas by bankrolling Washington rallies and town hall facades.
We need a modern day Frank Buckles to remind us that all of us need to do our part as individuals to save this great nation.
We, as a collective unit, can serve as this modern day Frank Buckles.
And collectively, we must start by ending the partisan rhetoric, demanding accountability from both Washington and the media, and emptying every last penny of lobbyist lucre from the pockets of our elected officials.
This is where we start.
We don't start with attacks on each other.
We don't start by siding with politicians and special interests instead of siding with those who teach our children, protect our borders and repair our roads.
We don't start by regurgitating questionable media sound bites while ignoring objective peer-reviewed data offered up by reputable economists, climatologists and energy experts.
We start by taking a deep breath, toning down the vitriol, and working together to make sure that our children will not have to carry the burden of unsustainable fiscal policies.
We work together to make sure our children will be able to live in a society where the value of clean air and water trumps the complacency and irresponsibility of accepting fossil fuels as our primary source of transportation fuels and power generation.
We work together to make sure the food our children eat in the future will not make them sick or be grown in unhealthy soil which resulted from the continued overuse of synthetic fertilizers and Monsanto's Roundup Ready GM crops.
We work together – not with those who have something to gain by keeping the partisan divide strong – but with every hard-working citizen of this country who deserves the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
It's what guys like Frank Buckles sought to secure for us.
And it's what we must seek to secure for our children.
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